Stationary Times

Urania Jones

Hello, duckies!  Urania here, stepping in for the nonce.

(And yes, somewhat unintentionally, having made a vague reference to offering a guest post sometime, a distinction apparently lost on the persistent Miscellanea.)

“Oh, just write anything,” she says.  “Anything at all.  You know, as long as it’s about astrology.  And not too complicated.  Or overwhelming.  But not too simplistic.  You know.”

Ah, yes.  The clear directive.

But we are undaunted.  As luck would have it, it’s a busy time (celestially speaking).  Here we are, just a few days past Summer Solstice, and  Saturn and Venus this week station direct.  Much to consider, much to elucidate.

We’ll start with the broadest of strokes, shall we?

With Solstice, we find ourselves at midsummer, though of course this is more commonly known to us as the start of the summer season.  As with the start of all seasons, the sun has entered a Cardinal sign, in this case the water sign of Cancer — moon-ruled, domestic and emotional.

As for those stations:  You are, perhaps, familiar with the concept of Mercury retrograde, and its attendant trials of communication breakdown, technological snafus and misunderstandings?

Mercury’s retrogrades are the most frequent, occurring on an average three times per year (next beginning July 14), but all of the planets, in fact, take on retrograde motion — that is, the appearance of going backward.  Saturn and Venus are just now returning to forward movement.

(It should be noted that neither the Sun nor the Moon retrogrades.  Nor are they planets, in astronomical terms, though from an astrological perspective they are seen as such.  Older and more poetic descriptions may refer to them as the lights.)

At the start and end of these retrograde periods, the planets appear to stop before reversing direction, a state known as a station.  In my observation, the station days can be the most challenging, as though the suspension of those planetary movements manifests as a similar loss of traction in earthly endeavors.

Saturn’s station today takes us out of a five-month stint of retrograde motion.  As Saturn represents the structure of our lives and our society, in retrograde it has provided a key opportunity to restructure and reconceive, the better to build on a stronger foundation now that forward movement has resumed.

The six-week retrograde of Venus has enabled us to revisit areas of artistic and relationship activities, and to reconsider habits of indulgence and even styles of dress.  Her direct motion on Wednesday will enable us to move forward with a fresh eye and a fresh approach.

(I should add that it is not generally a practice of mine to begin endeavors under such stationary energies.  It is only as a result of prolonged entreaties from The Editor that I offer this post, and only under the condition that it be regarded as preliminary.)

We hope soon to welcome to these pages the fine work of the incomparable Argento.  We are delighted with the prospect.

In fact — heaven knows — we can hardly wait.